By: Muhammad Naseem
Gwadar’s fisherfolk under CPEC
The China Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC) is considered a game changer for the region. Originally the project was valued at USD 46 billion, however, the project is estimated at USD 62 billion today.
The Port under construction at Gwadar is owned by the Pakistan government’s Gwadar Port Authority and operated by state-run Chinese firm China Overseas Port Holding Company (COPHC) which will run it for 40 years.
Gwadar is a gateway to the oil rich middle east, central and South Asia. However, for the local residents Gwadar is the spot where they can fish all year around. It is a fact that the majority of local people’s livelihoods depend on fishing from which they feed their children.
The government has made promises to provide all basic facilities to local people through this massive project which includes hospitals, schools, roads and industries will be established for the progress and prosperity of people. But at the moment the city is situated in one of Pakistan’s poorest provinces, Balochistan doesn’t even have basic services.
The healthcare system is rudimentary and for women it is almost non-existent. For childbirth complications women have to be taken all the way to Turbat or even Karachi, nearly 500km away.
On the other hand, the voices of the indigenous fisherfolk of Gwadar who make up 80% of the district’s 185000 inhabitants have been snuffed out. While in their own country, own town and own land, they are being welcomed as outsiders by someone who is in reality an outsider.
According to a Chinese company spokesperson, the fisherfolk’s livelihoods will not be affected and that once the factories are set up then there would be no dearth of work. They all will be absorbed in activities related to their own occupation be it fishing process or value addition. And those who want to persist with fishing will be provided with technology, nets, boats and engines for them to go out into the sea.
According to the COPHC deputy manager in the planning and development section, “There is speculation that in 20 years there will be two million people employed in Gwadar, both from Gwadar and other parts of Pakistan including 20,000 Chinese. They will buy fish from the fisherfolk at market rates and eliminate the middlemen so they make maximum profits.”
But the local fisherfolk do not feel reassured. With more and more skilled workers making their way to Gwadar, locals with fewer skills and no education are likely to be left behind. The fear among the local people is palpable. Because they do not know anything other than fishing.
The Chinese plan for CPEC, seems to validate this type of thinking in which locals are not part of the input, how CPEC will be developed?
Gwadar is no longer sleepy, but it isn’t fully awake either. Training and developing skills of local people must be the first priority of CPEC authority before implementing the project.
Published in Daily Makran Times
Daily Makran Times 